Swindle (TF2017)
Swindle from The Transformers (2017 TV Series). Bio Capitalist first, Decepticon second, Swindle is a con-man, an opportunist, a hustler—or as he would put it, an entrepreneur. Unlike his fellow Combaticons, he considers the Autobot-Decepticon war to be merely an opportunity for networking, cutting deals, and making profit. He's an expert on all manner of weaponry and their market prices, and he prides himself on being able to sell anything to pretty much anybody. Despite being a weaselly, opportunistic sneak, Swindle is one of the few Decepticons who could adapt to a post-war Cybertron. After all, there will always be demand for a black market, regardless of whoever wins. He knows all he has to do is keep his chin up, and he'll always have a customer. All he needs is a smile. Swindle can combine with the other Combaticons to form Bruticus. History Main Timeline Arc 2 Thanks to his brief time housing the Matrix in his mind, Buster Witwicky experienced a series of dreams outlining the future of Cybertronian technology: the Special Teams. These dreams were random and chaotic at first, as he was chased through his dreamscape by Combiner robots and witnessed the Combaticons merge into Bruticus. After Optimus Prime joined Buster in his dreams, the information became more linear, and the Autobot and human beheld a future scenario in which Swindle and the Combaticons joined forces with the Stunticons against the Protectobots and the Aerialbots. Working off this information, Wheeljack began to conceive a way to reverse-engineer and improve upon Devastator's combination technology. Unfortunately for the Autobots, Soundwave had managed to tap into Buster's dream frequency, and the Decepticons received the same information to build their own Special Teams. |Second Generation| On his first mission on Earth, Swindle joined the Combaticons and Megatron on a mission to invade the company Energy Futures Industries in order to steal a hydrothermocline, which the Decepticons wanted to take for their own energy resources. When they arrived, they were met by Optimus Prime and the Protectobots, laying in wait for them. Swindle combined with his team to form Bruticus, but before the giant got a chance to brawl with Defensor, a human suggested that they'd play a video game over the plant instead. Optimus Prime and Megatron both agreed, and Swindle was sent into the video game along with the other Combaticons, Protectobots, and faction leaders. Swindle teamed up with Brawl to destroy Streetwise and First Aid in the "Vineland" area of the game. However, they were tripped up by a bunch of vine creatures, crystallized, and blown to smithereens. Game over. |Afterdeath| Swindle was idling about in Megatron's throne room, where he witnessed the now mentally unhinged faction leader lash out erratically to all those around him. He soon accompanied his fellow Decepticons to a new base in the Caribbean, during which time Megatron disappeared and Shockwave assumed command of the Earth-bound Decepticons. |Gone but Not Forgotten| Arc 3 Shortly afterwards, Shockwave dispatched Swindle and the other Combaticons to assassinate Galvatron, who had been buried under cooled lava at Mount Verona. The Combaticons made short work of the human military camped around the site, then proceeded to set up explosive charges to eliminate the potential usurper once and for all. As Swindle was setting his share of the charges, he was struck down by the combined efforts of three human women, out to save Ultra Magnus, also buried within the volcano. The rest of the Combaticons were driven off with the additional help of the Throttlebots, earning them the ire of Swindle and his teammates. |Ladies' Night| Swindle and his team tracked the Throttlebots to a used car lot, finding their prey immobilized in their vehicle modes. But to get to them, the Combaticons had to contend with both the Protectobots and a squadron of RAAT operatives. In order to avoid wholesale destruction of his lot, the proprietor of the dealership suggested each faction put in a bid for the Throttlebots, and all present accepted. Onslaught had nothing to bargain with however, and zero intention of actually following through with the agreement. He instructed Swindle to simply terminate the auctioneer, Big Steve Ludwig, only for Blaster to leap forth from a hiding spot and toss Swindle away before he got his shot in. This triggered an all-out brawl to start, ending with the Combaticons retreating and the Throttlebots in RAAT custody. |Used Autobots| The Combaticons decided to ambush the Protectobots once more, this time meeting them in a sprawling train yard. The group was forced to regroup and combine into Bruticus early in the fight, the combiner's brute strength securing them a victory over the similarly-merged Defensor. But the dim-witted Bruticus was then tricked by Blaster into lowering his guard, and the Autobot collapsed an electrical tower onto his opponent, knocking his components into unconsciousness. |Child's Play| The Combaticons (except Blast Off) were at Shockwave's side when the Decepticon leader ordered his warriors to try and gun down Galvatron as he breached the defenses of their underwater base. However, upon his arrival, Galvatron told the Decepticons that he had only wished to talk, and that Shockwave's decision to meet him with violence had only served to assure they had made a powerful enemy. Swindle turned to Shockwave, utterly unimpressed over how Shockwave had handled the situation. |Enemy Action| Swindle was on the Decepticons' island base when Shockwave and Ratbat launched it into space to prevent the Autobots from rescuing their prisoner, Buster Witwicky. As Shockwave was sent plunging back into the Earth's atmosphere, Swindle found himself under Ratbat's command. |The Desert Island of Space| Swindle had better success during the Decepticon ambush of the Autobots on the moon, where the Autobots had gathered to resolve a leadership dispute. Swindle attacked Brawn with his Scatter Blaster and commented that although Brawn was not a great Autobot warrior, he would have a bright future as spare parts (presumably to be sold at a premium by Swindle himself). The Combaticons then combined into Bruticus during an attack on the Autobot forces on Earth's moon, joining his fellow combiners in fighting the Autobots' combiners. When the combined forces of Blaster and Grimlock managed to pierce the ship's protective force field, Ratbat commanded all Decepticons on the surface of the Moon to return to the ship and retreat. |Totaled| Swindle also served as part of the "friendly" staff on the beach of the Decepticons' Caribbean island when the Decepticons used the base as a human vacation resort. Swindle was there to serve every need that the humans might require. |Club Con| The Combaticons were later part of the large platoon of Decepticons that assumed battle stations in response to the approach of rival Decepticon leader Scorponok's faction upon their iceberg base. Though both groups tentatively tried to unite at first, Scorponok and Ratbat's troops were eventually manipulated into battling one another by Starscream. |Cold War| Future Timelines Target: 2005 This Swindle is from a future where events similar to the original The Transformers: the Movie occurred. Arc 3 Swindle and the Decepticons were led into battle by Astrotrain in 2007. They planned to strike back against the Autobots, but were instead ambushed by the Quintessons in what could have been a massacre. Putting aside his pride, Decepticon commander Soundwave radioed the Autobots for assistance, and soon the two factions were fighting side-by-side on Cybertron against the invading Quintesson forces. |Space Pirates| Trivia *Fred Willard reprises his role as Swindle. Changes *Swindle didn't appear in Emeny Action! or The Desert Island of Space! *Divebomb, Fireflight, the Protectobots, Rampage, the Seacons, and Strafe didn't appear in Totaled! **On a related note: Bruticus, Computron, Defensor, Devastator, Menasor, Piranacon, Predaking, and Superion never formed in Totaled! *Swindle didn't appear in Space Pirates! *Swindle and the Combaticons didn't appear in Cold War! Category:Articles by Trachodon56 Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Decepticons Category:Combaticons Category:The Transformers (2017 TV Series) Category:The Transformers (2017 TV Series) Characters Category:The Transformers (2017 TV Series) Decepticons